


Can You Hold This For Me?

by PercyJacksonAus (UndercoverSmut)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth and Percy are just friends, Annabeth is gay in this, F/F, Fluff, High School AU, Human AU, Mild Language, Punk!Piper kind of, Two girls united by a cat, like really gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 16:24:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7539625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndercoverSmut/pseuds/PercyJacksonAus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper needs Annabeth to protect something important while she gets into a fight</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can You Hold This For Me?

Annabeth sighed deeply as she rounded the corner and caught sight of the gathering crowd in the middle of the hallway. She had planned on being early to her English class because she still needed a couple extra minutes to look over the text before the pop quiz Leo had just told her about, but it looked like chances were slim. The cluster was spreading, cutting any actual traffic down to a trickle, and were starting to rhythmically chant the word ‘fight’. There was really only one thing to do. She gathered her books close to her chest and started cutting through the group, elbowing people out of the way and ignoring the commotion she caused, when suddenly a hand grabbed her sleeve. Annabeth realized that she had accidentally worked her way into the middle of the ring and found herself facing a tall boy that looked like a sun-bleached scarecrow and a girl with russet skin and incredibly long, dark hair braided back from her face. The girl was the one who had a grip on Annabeth’s sleeve. Normally, she would’ve just pulled away and hurried on to class, but there was something about this girl that made her stop. Maybe it was that Annabeth couldn’t pin down the color of her eyes but she was hypnotized anyway. Maybe it was how her shoulders were steeled but her mouth was curved in a soft, pleading smile. And maybe, just maybe, it was the very small kitten she had in her other hand. 

“Can you hold him for me? Just for a little bit? I don’t want him to get hurt.” The girl asked, turning for a moment to glare at the too-pale boy over her shoulder. He rolled his eyes and tapped his foot impatiently. Annabeth was dumbstruck by the request. She was pretty sure you weren’t allowed to bring pets to school, but there was no denying that the cat was here. He looked fragile, too fragile for the sort of fight she could imagine this girl with the scratched up knuckles and scar on her chin getting into. So, wordlessly, Annabeth reached out her hands for the kitten. The girl handed her over and smiled gratefully.

“I owe you one.” Then she spun back to her enemy and launched herself at him. Annabeth watched for a moment, overwhelmed by her grace and agility. The taller boy had reach but really no hope of winning. Dimly, she heard the bell ring and her pop quiz came rushing back. She darted off with the rest of the scattering crowd, running through all she remembered about Moby Dick in her head and praying it would be enough.

In retrospect, Annabeth should’ve known that Leo was just being an asshole. Not only was there no pop quiz, Mrs. Reynolds wasn’t even in school. The substitute had just put on a movie and started texting, paying no attention to whether the students were actually watching it or not. Which was probably a good thing because, Annabeth realized, she still had the girl’s kitten clutched in her hands. He looked up at her mournfully with luminescent green and she quickly let go of him, letting him get settled on her lap. She tried to pretend that this was normal and prayed that nobody would notice.

“Holy shit,” Percy whispered, eyes flicking back and forth from the kitten to Annabeth’s stricken face like he was watching a pro tennis match. “Is that a cat? Since when do you have a cat? Can I pet it? What’s its name? Can I hold it? Are you allowed to have that here?” Annabeth felt like she also should’ve known that the best class to get away with having a kitten was not the one where she sat next to her inquisitive best friend. She smacked his hand away as he reached out to pet the cat.

“Just be cool, okay? A girl gave it to me-” Annabeth started to explain under her breath.

“Ooh, a girl?” Percy grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. She smacked him again.

“Shut up. It was a spur of the moment thing. She needed to fight someone and she asked me to hold her cat and Leo said we had a pop quiz so I just rushed here without thinking and oh god she probably thinks I stole her cat.” She started petting the kitten in her lap anxiously. She had to return this cat somehow, but she didn’t even know the girl’s name. She turned to Percy to ask his opinion and saw that he was silently cracking up, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes. “Percy!”

“What?” he chuckled quietly. “This is incredible. Isn’t giving someone a cat like third base for lesbians? You’re now basically engaged to this girl.” Annabeth dearly wanted to smack him again, but the kitten had started to lick her hand and she obviously couldn’t stop him from doing that.

“That’s not the point!” Annabeth half-shouted, earning herself a dirty look from the substitute. “The point is I’ve never seen this girl before and now I have her cat-” Percy laughed again and she glared at him “- and I really need to get it back to her. That’s all there is to it.”

“Well, okay, then what does she look like? Maybe I know her.” 

“Um…” she knew that if she described what she remembered of the girl, Percy would make fun of her til the end of time. But she really needed to see her again. To give her the kitten, of course. “She has, uh, brown hair and, uh, kind of copper-y skin and-”

“Dude, just tell me how beautiful she is.” And with that, the dam broke.

“Her eyes are this indescribable kaleidoscope of colors and she has such a perfect mouth and god, Percy, her hair is the exact color of that gingerbread house we made last Christmas and it goes almost down to her waist and she fights like she’s dancing and her voice is like music and she’s incredible and I stole her cat and I need to find her.” Annabeth babbled. She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks as Percy smirked at her but she didn’t take back anything she said. The girl’s unbelievably beautiful was burned into her mind and she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“I think I might actually know who you’re talking about.” 

Annabeth took a deep breath as the girl from the fight rounded the corner. The kitten was cradled securely in her arms, providing a little warmth to counteract the biting wind. Percy had texted the girl, Piper, he had called her, to meet with Annabeth after school and give back the cat. She had begged him to stay with her, but he had refused, ducking away at the last moment. So she stood alone, all her words caught in her throat when Piper’s face lit up with a glowing smile at the sight of her cat.

“Hey! Thanks so much for keeping him safe for me while I kicked Octavian’s ass. Sorry I lost track of you after the fight though. He wasn’t too much trouble, was he?” she asked as she scooped the cat out of Annabeth’s arms. Her wrist burned where Piper’s hand had grazed it and she had to swallow very conspicuously before she could speak.

“No trouble at all. I’ll watch him any time.” Her voice sounded rusty to her own ears and she could feel her cheeks turning red, but Piper was so wrapped up in cooing to her cat that she didn’t seem to notice. When she turned that same glowing smile on Annabeth it hit her like a punch in the gut.

“I need to thank you for this. What do you say about grabbing some coffee or something? It’s freezing out here and I’m buying.” Finally, Annabeth managed a smile.

“I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I know I should be writing for the boarding school au but this was just too cute not to do


End file.
